


Let's not give the game away

by StrawberryLane



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Canonical Child Abuse, Credence Barebone Deserves Better, Credence Barebone is not naive, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Manipulative Relationship, Mind Games, Obscurial Credence Barebone, Self-Esteem Issues, Who's using who?, allusions to sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 16:48:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9500705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryLane/pseuds/StrawberryLane
Summary: Credence, not as naive as other people may perceive him, does what he can to keep Mr Graves close, because he quickly realized that this man, this powerful, rich man, might very well be his ticket to a life without Mary Lou Barebone breathing down his neck.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on [this](http://fantasticbeasts-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1184.html?thread=1860000#cmt1860000) prompt from the kinkmeme.
> 
> Title is a line from a song called Please don't say you love me, by Gabrielle Aplin. It's very good.
> 
> This could be Original Percival Graves, or it could be Gellert Grindelwald masquerading as Percival Graves, which is why I've tagged both. But it's up to you to decide who you want it to be, really.

Everyone always acts like he's so naive. Ma treats him like he's a child that won't realize what she's doing is wrong, when in reality he realized normal mothers don't abuse their children a long time ago. He knows his mother isn't sane, not in the normal sense of the word. He just doesn't know how to leave. He has nowhere to go, not really.

He knows Chastity is only behaving like she is to ensure her own survival. He knows Modesty copes the best she can in her own way.

He knows he would do anything to get out from under Mary Lou Barebone's thumb.

Credence meets Percival Graves approximately one week after the debacle with Ma and the strange woman, the one who saved him from a beating and then did something to Ma to make her forget.

The only reason Credence remembers, he thinks, is because he's very, very good at playing dumb. It's a skill that comes in handful, especially when dealing with Ma, because while she won't believe his lies or his excuses, she buys his stupidity without batting an eyelash. Sure, it gives her ammunition to tear him down, but Credence knows he's not actually dumb. And it saves his body from a physical beating.

He's good at pretending to be something he's not. He always has been.

Percival Graves is someone who's connected to the woman who made Ma forget, Credence thinks, though he's not sure exactly how the two are connected. He meets Mr Graves when he's standing outside the Woolworth building, handing out the leaflets to whoever wants them. Most people avoid him like he's carrying a deathly disease, but not Mr Graves. No, Mr Graves comes right up to him and asks for a leaflet, which he then reads with mounting interest.

"Would you tell me more about the cause?" he asks, as if he's really interested in Ma's meetings. Most people just scoff and tell Credence he's a freak, because everybody knows witches ain't real. It's just the stuff of an overactive imagination belonging to a grumpy woman who doesn't want to admit that what she really needs is a real man. But Mr Graves seem genuinely interested, if somewhat suspicious, so Credence rattles off the lines Ma made both him and his sisters rehearse until they could recite them without a fault, even if she decided to test them by waking them up in the middle of the night. When he's done, Mr Graves seems impressed with his little speech and promises to think about attending the next meeting.

He's gone again before Credence has worked up the courage to say something that isn't the words Ma placed in his mouth.

After that first meeting, Credence doesn't really think about Mr Graves all too much, until it's 7:15 pm on a Tuesday night and the usual, loyal crowd of Ma's supporters have turned up, eagerly awaiting their leader's newest speech on the subject of witches.

At 7:30 Credence is hiding out in the kitchen, helping Modesty make sure they've got enough stale cookies and watery coffee for everyone to get at least one cookie.

"Excuse me," someone says from the doorway. "I'm looking for the bathroom?"

"It's in the back, sir. Just continue down this way and turn right, sir," Modesty tells the stranger standing in the doorway, and Credence feels a thrill down his spine at the sound of the familiar voice.

It's Mr Graves, looking very out of place among even those of Ma's supporters who made sure to dress up for the meeting. He's in a sharp suit, his coat swishing around him even though there's no movement on the man's part. He looks incredibly powerful, even in the bad lightning inside the dusty church.

"Thank you, miss," Mr Graves tells Modesty, before casting one last glance at Credence and continuing down the hall.

Credence feels his cheeks heat up and carefully avoids Modesty's gaze by busying himself with the dirty dishes in the sink. He loves Modesty, he really thinks he does, but that girl is too perceptive for her own good. He doesn't need her to know things about him when he's not entirely sure what they mean himself.

*

The third time they meet, Mr Graves is the one who ambushes Credence in the alleyway next to the church. The man steps out of the shadows, as if he's been waiting for Credence to return.

"I would quite like to speak to you, Credence, if you've got the time?"

Credence likes the way his first name rolls on the other man's tongue, likes the way it sounds. It doesn't sound hostile, like when Ma says it, doesn't sound like curse. It sounds kind. He nods, to answer the man's question and steps inside the alleyway, away from the open road. Somehow he knows Ma won't like it if she sees him talking to someone as important looking as Mr Graves.

"How do you know my name?" he asks Mr Graves, because he's reasonably sure he would remember telling it to the other man.

"I overheard someone calling for you," Mr Graves replies, smoothly. "My name is Percival Graves."

"What can I do for you, Mr Graves?" Credence asks, gearing up to tell him another rehearsed speech about Ma's cause.

"I need your help," Mr Graves says. "I need you to find someone for me. It's of utmost importance. You'll be greatly rewarded."

"Why?"

"Why I need to find this someone?"

"Why me? Why not find this someone yourself?"

"Because my sources tells me the person I'm looking for has ties to the Second Salem Church and while I want to find this person all on my own, your mother doesn't want me in her church. Something about me has rubbed her the wrong way, so to speak. She made this very clear last Tuesday."

Credence hesitates. "If I help you, what would my reward be?"

"Whatever you want, Credence. Whatever you want."

*

Credence looks for this mysterious person, he really does. So what if he's looking slowly? It makes sense to be thorough, he tells himself. He needs to make sure it's the right person before bringing them to Mr Graves.

It's not like he's doing it slowly because he wants to keep the older man close. It's not because he wants to savor the only shred of kindness he's had in years. Of course it isn't.

Mr Graves meets him almost daily in the alleyway next to the church, a place that Credence doesn't really think is the best place for secret meetings, because Ma could chose any moment to step outside, right next to them, but Mr Graves seems unconcerned. "She won't notice," he says and Credence believes him.

Mr Graves touches him, hugs him close, tells him he's a special person when Credence knows he's anything but. But that doesn't stop him from chasing after the other man's touches. He finds he needs them like you need air to live.

Credence knows Mr Graves needs him too. The older man needs him to find the person he's so desperate to find. Credence, not as naive as other people may perceive him, does what he can to keep Mr Graves close, because he quickly realized that this man, this powerful, rich man, might very well be his ticket to a life without Mary Lou Barebone breathing down his neck.

Credence thinks of it as a game. A dangerous one, mind, because if Mr Graves ever found out about it he surely wouldn't be pleased. It's a game of take and give, a game of who can use the other the most.

Mr Graves heals his injuries with a flick of his hand. Mr Graves is a witch, or a wizard as it's called. He promises Credence the world and Credence believes him, despite his gut telling him it's a bad thing to trust people you don't even actually know. Credence knows Mr Graves finds him attractive. He can't understand it himself, but he has seen enough of the prostitutes that come out of the woodwork after dark to know how to use it to lure the older man in.

It's not as if he finds Mr Graves repulsive in any way.

"Save me," he whispers to the older man once, when they're laying surrounded by the dark in Mr Graves' bedroom. It's a big room, bigger than Credence's, Chastity's and Modesty's rooms together back at the church and while it's mostly empty of personal belongings, it doesn't have an empty feel to it. Credence, who knows by now that Mr Graves has a tendency to want to cuddle after they're done with the act itself, snuggles closer to the other man, tangles their legs together.

"Save me," he repeats, voice just above a whisper. "That's what I want for my reward. Save me from her and you'll get your person. I promise."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it! :-)


End file.
